The final bunch includes an AI platform enables oncologists to better treat cancer patients, a personalised dementia therapy app and a platform that uses chatbot technology and AI to connect doctors and nurses to any clinical data at the point of care.

Applications for the 2020 competition, which is sponsored by SoftJump, opened in September 2019 with a panel of judges whittling down the final 16 from a list of 95.

The winners, which will be decided on 4 March, will be offered the unique opportunity to have their innovation tested and scaled at the world-class Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust through its CW Innovation programme.

Chris Chaney, Chief Executive of CW+ (the charity of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) and co-lead of CW Innovation, said: “With nearly 100 Pitchfest entries, there is clearly no shortage of ideas and passion in creating innovations that can deliver high-impact improvements to patient care.

“The range of entries from early start-ups and entrepreneurs – from chatbots for doctors to digital therapeutic tools for digestive health to cloud-based quality assessments for imaging – have been impressive. It was genuinely tough to choose sixteen finalists.”

“Now the attention turns to the Pitchfest finals on 4 March. With a real-world NHS test bed opportunity available for the Pitchfest winner at our Trust, we are already looking forward to a fantastic contest that will be central to a successful Rewired 2020 event.”

On the morning of the Pitchfest groups of start-ups will each deliver a three-minute pitch and then answer questions from the judges live on stage. A winner from each group will be chosen to go through to the final, where finalists will pitch again, and the judges will then name an overall Pitchfest winner.

Jon Atkin, chief operating officer at SoftJump which is the sponsor of the Pitchfest, added: “As the UK’s only growth-stage private equity fund dedicated to accelerating public sector technology startups; SoftJump is delighted to be supporting the Pitchfest initiative and wish all the entrants the best of luck.”

Healthbit – An easy-to-understand health record that keeps track of your health or the health of others you’re responsible for. Trackers, apps and connected devices automatically update your health record to give you an accurate picture of your health.

Memory Lane Games Limited – A personalised dementia therapy app using AI, gamification and GDPR-compliant family curated content, to help families turn memories into games to share and play with loved ones suffering from dementia.

Syrona – A virtual women’s health clinic that applies a combination of digital and clinical biomarkers in fertility, endometriosis and gynaecological cancers.

LifeBox Health – A medical software company providing both the NHS and private sector with digital health screening software.

Medicspot – The start-up installs health pods in community pharmacies and NHS nationally. Each pod has various connected diagnostic tools. Using Medicspot technology, a clinician can listen to a patient’s heart and lungs, look at their tonsils or eardrum or measure their blood pressure during a remote live consultation.

Medxnote – An event notification and process improvement platform that uses chatbot technology and AI to connect doctors and nurses to any clinical data at the point of care.

Smartr Health Ltd – A tool which can help people monitor their body temperature, accurately, via their smartphone or tablet.

The Digital Health Rewired Exhibition and Conference on 4 March 2020 connects current and future health leaders with the best in disruptive digital health. The compelling programme features a glittering line-up of leading NHS CEOs, CCIOs and CIOs, and founders of many of the most exciting digital health start-ups from across Europe. The show is free to attend for start-ups under three years.